Beaches of Ballena Marine National
Park

How to use this guide

This is for a day at Ballena Marine National Park, making the most of the ticket: it costs $6.78 for foreign non-resident adults and is valid all day in all four sectors. The tide sets the order of the day. Whale’s Tail, in the Uvita sector, can only be walked at low tide: arrive as low tide begins; it is about 2 km and 30 minutes on foot from the entrance, and allow 1.5 to 3 h with beach time. Uvita Beach (Uvita sector) is where that entrance is and where tour boats leave from.

On the same ticket, carry on south. Colonia Beach (Colonia sector), about 10 minutes away by car, is the favourite of locals and surfers, a little less crowded and open until 18:00. Ballena Beach (Ballena sector), about 7 km south of Uvita, has patches of forest and is the official access to Arco Beach, which you can only reach and leave at low tide, after about 30 minutes along the beach, across a river and through forest. If the tide is not right, stay at Ballena Beach or Colonia.

With a single low tide, choose between Whale’s Tail and Arco Beach; with two days, leave Arco for the second. Piñuela Beach (Piñuela sector), the southernmost, may be temporarily closed: if it is, go to Ballena Beach. If you are short of time, Whale’s Tail and Colonia fit into a long morning.

Tips

• The ticket is paid by card only, at the park booth, with no booking or guide needed. Private car parks at the entrance charge about ₡2,000 to 4,000 a day.
• For snorkelling on your own, mask and snorkel are allowed, but not fins.
• Near the Uvita sector entrance there are crocodile warnings in the estuary: do not swim there. In Waze, search for 'Entrada sector Uvita'; in Google Maps, 'Parqueo Bahía'.
• Every sector has toilets, showers and washbasins. Pets, alcohol, single-use plastic and horse rides are not allowed.
• Look at the tide table at the entrance booth and leave no valuables on the beach or in the car. At Colonia, watch out for rip currents.